


Take the Days as They Come

by Cottonstones



Series: Promises and Plans [5]
Category: Panic At The Disco, The Academy Is..., Young Veins
Genre: Fourth of July, Kid Fic, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-18
Updated: 2012-06-18
Packaged: 2017-11-08 00:27:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/437094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cottonstones/pseuds/Cottonstones
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jon and Ryan take their son to see fireworks for the first time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Take the Days as They Come

**Author's Note:**

> Title taken from "Take a Vacation!" by the Young Veins.

“I’m not sure about this, Ryan,” Jon says, standing on the back deck, his arms crossed and resting on the thick wooden railing. He turns his gaze from where he’s staring at the flat view of their suburban neighborhood and to where Ryan is standing in their backyard.

“Jon, the box says for ages five and up with parental assistance.” Ryan fingers the lighter in his hand and shakes the thin box of sparklers at Jon.

“Jude is four, parental assistance or not.”

Ryan sighs. Jon rolls his eyes and comes down to join him in the backyard. It’s just beginning to get dark, most of what they can see tinted indigo. Their son is currently running around the confines of the yard, chasing the fireflies, an empty mason jar tucked under his arm. He likes to catch them, but not kill them; he’d cried for an hour the other night when he smashed one on accident.

Marley is chasing Jude around the yard, sometimes accidentally knocking him down into the grass, licking at his hands and face, Jude giggling as he struggles to get back to his feet. Jon watches him giggle and snatch at the air as the fireflies evade him and soar higher, out of reach of his sticky, little fingers.

“I promised him, Jon,” Ryan stresses. Jon looks at him. He knows how seriously Ryan takes the promises he makes to Jude. He knows that Ryan makes them and keeps them and takes them seriously for every promise he was made as a child that was broken and forgotten.

Jon sighs. “Fine, but if he gets hurt, you’re on boo-boo duty.”

“He won’t get hurt,” Ryan says instead before he looks across the yard to Jude. “Jude, come here! You can try the sparkler now!”

Jude stops in his tracks, Marley bouncing around him.

“Really?” he hollers back, like he’s a little skeptical that this is just some trick to get him to bed.

“Yes, really! Now come on!” Ryan says through a laugh.

Jude releases the jar, letting it tumble to the grass, and runs to them with Marley on his heels. Jon folds his arms across his chest. He envisions burns and crying and Jude having a permanent fear of the fourth of July for the rest of his life. Jude skids to a stop in front of them, his little chest heaving with excitement, grinning hugely. Marley goes to Jon’s side and nuzzles his hand, licking his fingers.

Jon pets the dog while Jude bounces excitedly in front of them, watching the thin sticks in Ryan’s hands. “Now listen, Jude,” Ryan begins. He hides the sparklers behind his back so that Jude will pay attention. His tiny eyes focus on Ryan, but his body still quivers with energy. “I’m going to hand you the sparkler and then light it. When the fire gets too close to your fingers or if you get scared, just drop it in the grass,” Ryan instructs slowly. Jude nods like he’s being trusted with a huge important task.

“This is something big boys do,” Ryan says as he brings back the sparklers and shakes one of the sticks from the box. “Prove to your Dad that you’re a big boy, Judes.” Ryan smiles back at Jon and Jude does the same.

“I wanna sparkle now!” Jude says. “Can I, Dad?”

“Sparkle away, my son!” Ryan laughs before he leans down to hand Jude the sparkler. Jude takes it in his hand like it’s something precious. Ryan brings the lighter to life and then sets the fire against the tip of the sparkler. It bursts to life, throwing tiny, gold-white sparks around. Jude gasps and his eyes go wide.

It does make Jon happy to see his son so excited. It relaxes him. Jude squeals and then starts shaking his arm, leaving thin trails of color behind the stick. “Whoa!” Jude proclaims. “Look, Dad! Look! It’s cool!”

“I see, Jude,” Jon says, smiling. The color of the sparkler catches Jude’s face, coloring his cheeks warm and gold, making his eyes glow in the darkness. It’s one of those perfect moments where everything slows down and allows Jon memorizes every detail of his son. He knows that he’ll look back on this memory when he’s older, when it’s harder to remember when he was small and didn’t know a thing about the world.

When the stick burns too low, dying out before the sparks can reach Jude’s fingers, he gingerly hands the burned-out stick to Ryan. Jon is impressed that Ryan had the foresight to bring out a second mason jar, this one filled with water instead of fireflies. Ryan drops the heated sparkler stick into the water and it sizzles. Jude marvels at that, too.

“Can I do that next time?” Jude asks.

Ryan glances at Jon. “We’ll see.”

Jude ends up burning through the entire pack of sparklers. Jon takes him by the wrist on the third one and shows him how to draw shapes in the air so that the color sticks a second longer. Jude is in awe, like the stick in his hand is magic. “Let’s spell your name, buddy,” Jon says. He moves Jude’s hand to make a ‘J’ in the air. Jude can write his name, though he often does it with backwards and unintelligible letters.

Once Jude burns up all the sparklers and has thoroughly enjoyed himself in the process, it’s getting late. The fireworks in Barrington will be starting soon. “No more sparkles, Daddy?” Jude asks Jon as Ryan goes to put Marley in the house and grab the bag they’d packed up earlier that day. William had invited them out to Barrington to watch the fireworks there along with Brendon, Spencer, and Bogart.

“Sorry, Judes, they’re all gone,” Jon says, “but we’re all gonna go watch fireworks with Uncle Brendon, Uncle Spencer, and William.”

“Is Bogart gonna be there?” Jude asks. He instantly brightens up.

Jon picks Jude up; he wraps his legs around Jon’s side automatically. “Daddy, what are fireworks?” Jude asks. Jon walks through the backyard and the metal gate that opens up to the white stone pavement of the driveway, where Ryan’s got the minivan running.

“Well, they’re kinda like your sparklers, Jude. They’re like bright sparklers in the sky, really big and full of different colors.”

“Who holds the sticks?” Jude asks.

“Well, no one does. These sparklers don’t need sticks.”

Ryan loads the minivan up and Jon gets Jude settled in his car seat. They’ve packed lawn chairs and bug spray, flashlights and juice boxes, Jude’s favorite blanket. Jon never really thinks about all the extra stuff that just comes so naturally now. It’s been four years and Jon’s really proud of how well they’ve both taken to parenting, how all their thoughts and actions involve Jude first.

The car ride isn’t long. Occasionally, along the streets, there are people setting off their own fireworks, sending off bright showers of red and green and white. Jude is in awe, his face pressed to the glass of the back window. “Daddy, look! They have big sparklers!”

There’s a ton of people in Barrington to watch the fireworks. Ryan unloads Jude and Jon grabs the bag Ryan had packed out of the back of the minivan. He foregoes the chairs because it’s unlikely they’d find a prime spot where they could fit them.

“Daddy, it’s dark,” Jude says. He’s not really scared of the dark, but Jon bets being in an unfamiliar area in the dark with people milling around everywhere has to be unsettling.

“Yeah, it is, Jude, but that’s why we brought you something really special,” Ryan says. That’s Jon’s cue to dig into the bag and fish out the glow stick/flashlight combo that Jude always wears around his neck on Halloween. Jon hands it off to Ryan, who clicks it on. Jude grins in the orange glow from the light. Jon texts William to find out where to meet him while Ryan carries Jude on his hip as they march the through the throng of people who are spread out across grassy curbs and strangers’ front yards.

They eventually find William. Ryan sets down Jude. William’s is here with his wife and kid, who’s around Jude’s age if not a little older. “Hey, you guys!” William says, leaning down with his hands on his knees and smiling at Jude. “Hey, Squirt!”

“I’m not a squirt!” Jude protests. “I’m Jude!”

“That you are, young one,” William says. He laughs and Jude smiles.

“Hey, you guys made it!” Jon hears Brendon call. He sees him and Spencer walking up to them. Spencer is carrying their one-year-old son, Bogart, who resembles a chubbier Brendon with Spencer’s hair and eyes.

“Uncle Brendon!” Jude calls. He runs to Brendon and lets him scoop him up in his arms. Ryan slides up next to Jon’s side and Jon curls his arm around Ryan’s hip, petting the little sliver of skin between his pants and his shirt. Ryan shivers, but he doesn’t move away. Jon glances sidelong at Ryan to see him smiling.

“Yeah, we thought it was about time for Jude to see the fireworks,” Ryan says.

“And I got to sparkle, Uncle Spencer! Right, Daddy?” Jude says, twisting around in Brendon’s arms to face Ryan for confirmation.

“Right, buddy,” Ryan says over a small laugh.

“I tried telling Brendon that Bogart isn’t going to remember them, but…” Spencer trails off, shrugging and stroking his son’s cheek. “I guess it’s more for Brendon than Boggie.” Brendon and Spencer exchange a smile.

Spencer sets Bogart down on the ground. Brendon releases Jude. Jude takes Bogart’s hand in his. “Do you have sparkles, too, Bogart?”Jude asks. Bogart can’t talk much, certainly not enough to be able to answer Jude, but he still squeals happily and bounces around.

Jude plays with Bogart and William’s daughter up until the fireworks start. Brendon keeps an eye on them and Jon and Ryan claim a spot in the grass near William and his family. Jon drapes his arm around Ryan and pulls him close. Ryan’s head is cradled in the dip of Jon’s arm.

“I never get tired of watching him experience new things,” Ryan says. “Kinda makes me sad for the day when we’ll have nothing left to teach him.”

“I don’t think that day ever really comes,” Jon says. “There will always be things he needs to know about life. I still call my mom for advice.”

“Yeah, there are times I wish I could ask my dad about things. You know, stuff about raising Jude.”

Jon noses at Ryan’s temple and kisses Ryan’s ear. “I know.”

Ryan squeezes Jon’s hand where it’s resting on his knee before turning his head to brush his mouth against Jon’s. The fireworks are starting soon, so Spencer guides Jude back to them, Bogart curled against his hip.

“Did you have fun, Jude?” Jon asks as he takes Jude’s hand.

“Yeah! I got to play with poppers and I threw them and they went bang!” Jude says, throwing his hands up in the air. Jude settles in between Jon and Ryan, tucking himself in the little space between his parents. Jon and Ryan's touching sides create a little nest for him to rest in. “Daddy,” Jude says, tugging on Ryan’s sleeve. “Where will the fireworks be?”

“In the sky,” Ryan says. He points a finger in the air, guiding Jude’s gaze to the star-flecked summer sky above them. “You have to look up to watch them.”

“Are the fireworks going to hurt the moon?” Jude asks. He sounds genuinely worried.

“No,” Jon says. “Our friend the moon is going to be just fine, Jude.”

Jude smiles just as the first firework blossoms across the sky. “Whoa!” Jude exclaims, the light from the firework catching all over his face. His brown eyes are wide and he’s grinning and Jon’s having a hard time paying attention to the fireworks when he’d rather watch his son’s reactions to the bursts of colors.

“That one is green!” Jud says, pointing excitedly at the curly green spirals falling through the air. “Like my favorite color.”

Ryan cups the back of Jude’s head and strokes his hand through his mop of curly hair, fingers brushing his tangled curls. Fifteen or so minutes into the fireworks, Jon shifts and notices that Jude has fallen asleep, his head pillowed against Ryan’s arm. He’s curled half in Ryan’s lap and half in Jon’s.

“He couldn’t make it all the way through,” Jon says. Ryan looks down at Jude’s sleeping form.

“Maybe next year,” Ryan says.

“Wanna stay and finish them out?” Jon asks. He sort of can’t believe Jude could fall asleep amidst the chaos of the fireworks and the people around them, but Ryan can sleep almost anywhere, so Jude must’ve inherited that trait.

“Yeah, we can. I don’t want to wake him yet.”

Jon leans in. Ryan catches on and meets him halfway so that they can kiss, a little wet and soft. Jon rests his head against Ryan’s, Jude tucked between them, and he sighs, perfectly content.


End file.
